Pop in again! :)

I'm so excited about my last paper tomorrow. :) And looking forward to my 2-week attachment NEXT WEEK. :) I'm posted to NUH again... And Oncology ward AGAIN... :)

Not complaining cos I like Oncology. I don't know why the inclination towards it... I guess it is similar as to how I like the name "Charles". For no particular reason at all. :)

And hospitals are not all gloom and doom. In it, you find patients who are more alive, more optimistic and mentally stronger than some of the "normal" people you know.



You see the manifestation of love as spouses stay by the bedsides, day and night. Indeed holding on to the vow they made decades ago - To be faithful "In sickness and in health, till death do us part."

How heartwarming is that.

You see a son bringing in a foldable bed just so he could sleep beside his mum and be there with her through the night.

You talk to a homeless patient and his toothless grin is the most beautiful one you've seen.

You see the fighting spirit of patients as they silently endure their absurd treatments and share hopefully about their plans after discharge.



And you walk out of the hospital and see people who look like they would rather be dead. You read in papers of how people voluntarily end their lives over the littlest of things.

How bizarre.

Day was fine, took a 5-hour nap in the afternoon, practised my instruments and stuff...

Until when I finally put myself to study and needed the internet for some medical jargons... For eg: Alopecia. Which I found out, simply means HAIR LOSS.

Anyway, that's not the point. THE point is, when I used the family computer, I discovered that my account has been DELETED. It means that my collection of pictures (and whatever memories) from my JC days onwards are all GONE. Argh... The holiday trip with dad...

Why can't people just leave my stuff alone?!


And now I'm searching fantically for any remnants of pictures in this com. This could have been totally unnecessary.

Damn.

Announcement:

I will be away from the virtual world for a substantial amount of time from now.

 

 

Reason being, my lappie’s fan became malfunctioned out of the blue. Oh the random happenings of my life.

This causes my lappie to be real hot after about merely 5-10 minutes and thereafter it will just burn up and shut down by itself.

My oh my… What has the owner done that it should suffer this fate.

Haha.

Well, I guess it’s a blessing in disguise, my piano and cello are now rejoicing. If they have legs, they would be leaping hysterically.

They can have my undivided attention now as they will be my only entertainment at home.

 

Ok, my lappie is getting hotter now, I gotta go beofre it explodes or something. Hahahhaa…

I actually thought of putting it in my freezer and using it from there… Lol. Brilliant idea!

Will be procrastinating the repair, sooo… Till then. :)

A thought crossed my mind…

What if tomorrow never comes?

 

I’ll be darn depressed, even as I lie in my coffin, to know that I’ve spent the last day of my precious life studying about our immune system.

At least I’ve also spent my last day with my beloved piano playing my favourite songs…

I really hope there are many pianos in heaven. I don’t know what they’ll be made of though… Maybe gold? Are there elephants there too? Then maybe ivory…

I think I will make a will in future for my piano… (In case people burn it for me =X) I will probably donate it to a kid who wants to learn piano so much but could not afford to.

Or maybe to an orphanage where the piano could be a source of joy for them… Where happy songs can be emitted from it and bring smiles upon many faces. :)

Whatever it is, I will definitely not let it merely be a decorative object. What a wasted life~

If my piano has a mind of his own, I wonder what he will think of me? We’ve been together for the past 8-9 years already and have gone through my life’s most dramatic periods together.

He’s my first and only.

I remember my parents bringing me to this piano shop to shop for a piano (A bit duh…) And I remember going around tinkling with the keys on a few pianos.

When I reached THE ONE, I don’t know, but I started playing “Silent Night” on it. Of course with just one hand then. The shop keeper heard it and told my parents I played well.
(You have to say something like that to sell your pianos!!!)

And so it became MINE. :) Until now, I am still very much in love with my piano.

I hope to keep improving so that he can manifest his beauty even more heh heh. I believe he can do much more than this… :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life is becoming increasingly prosaic.

 

 

 

 

I need to watch some cartoons.

Alone @ Tiffy’s hostel

 

Life is totally mundane now…

That stuff like this pink rubber ball is able to stir up some curiosity and interest.

 

Anyway, I’m glad to break my record by swimming 26 laps yesterday. Haha… It’s this kinda cheap thrill that keeps us happily sane.

Dad picked me up from school and he told me about his experience giving a safety talk in front of 300 odd people.

He told me if you feel nervous at the 300 pairs of eyes staring at you, just look at 1 person and keep talking to him.

Lol…

He also translated for someone whose English was so broken, he didn’t even understand what he was talking about. And so he just added in his own points lol…

All good in the end. :)
So proud of him~

 

We just gotta learn how to act spontaneously in impromptu situations. It’s one of life’s survival skills. On the contrary, “acting blur” is also essential sometimes hahaha. But of cos it’s not something we should cultivate and depend upon lol…

 

 

My dad also said this, “When you are popular, there will be some people who don’t like you, but who cares?”

(It was a general statement, not referring to anyone in particular.)

I like the last part… WHO CARES!!!!!!

 

Coincidentally, when I reached home, someone came and talked to me on msn. I don’t know why but she started commenting on my looks, and had issues with my skin colour, hair and weight…

And even how often I change my msn picture… (Like once in a week or 2)

Saying “My picture is always the same, I don’t have to keep reminding people how hot I am.”

My hair stood up 90 degrees.

“Ha… Ok…”

 

0.0

Me being me, I didn’t even bother to retort, what’s the good in the end? It’s too trivial and doesn’t even matter at all.

Spent the entire day with my laptop, trying to study.

It was just not the best thing to do in one day.

On the bus ride back, I attempted to ‘artistically’ arranged some words out of randomness…

 

Somewhere in my memory
Lies a picture of you and me
A moment frozen in time
Captured with no place to run

 

And then my mind went blank. :)

Please help to continue if you want hahaha…

I had no one in mind when I wrote that, so it was just plain spontaneous.
In case you wonder…

 

 

The thought of having 2 more weeks of today is just… =/

Wind concert @ the Esplanade by “Westwind” featuring cartoon fantasies hehehehe.

I love cartoons!!! :)

I went mainly for “My Neighbour Totoro” and “Enchanted”, not a big fan of winds though. =P

It was my first time watching a concert being “engulfed” by crying babies, dancing tods and talking teenagers with no concert etiquettes at all.

It was a free concert so I guess there was no age limit? And people were probably less appreciative and attentive.

The entire experience was kinda distressing due to the cacophony of sounds/noises. Influx of soundwaves collided unfashionably in the air and we became its unfortunate victims.

The tods were so cute though, they were dancing to “Doraemon”!!! Lol. What child-like innocence, oblivious to the surrounding happenings.

I like! :)

 

 

 

 

And it’s the exam break next week. I’ll probably still be going back to school because it is almost impossible to study at home or in my room.

Heh heh…

Over dinner tonight, it was brought to my remembrance that I actually had an elder brother.

For some reason, we have never crossed path and little was mentioned about him.

Somehow tonight, for the first time in my life, I felt a sense of closeness to him. I don’t even know how to explain that. I have never felt that way and I know it is not my imagination. How can I imagine up being close to someone I have never met?

 

He could have been 23 this year, probably pursuing his dreams… And greatly admired by his little sis.

He could have fended for me when I fought with the Malay kids at the playground.

He could have warned me of the funny tricks of guys. He probably could have used some of them himself.

He could have been good-looking with a lovely character, the guy of every girl’s dream. Girls would probably want to befriend me just to know him.

He could have had faith in everything I do… No matter how many times I have failed and fallen.

 

And now as tears stream down my face, I know he is above watching over me as always. Probably smiling and thinking what a silly sister he has.

 

Whatever it is, this special moment tonight is still incomprehensible and is certainly beyond logic in the natural realm.

 

 

 

 

Oh yipee~ Rejoiceeeeeee~

Passed my IV priming reassessment this morning. I’m posted to NUH yet again for my 2-week attachment in December. Looking forward to that heh heh. I love nursing.

I’m officially done with Bahasa Indonesia module too! Oral was fine I suppose! :) Had some hilarious moments with Emma again during oral lol…

The “Preparation Room” where Emma and I was given a scenario and were supposed to prepare a dialogue haha.

 

It’s been quite a productive 3-month journey with our fellow classmates. We grew from being unable to construct any sentences to writing a 120-word essay in exam.

Not bad!

And from never ever touching an Angklung to performing on our project day. I had my first brush with conducting too!

 

As we depart, each to our own way, we know that we once intersected and shared this enriching learning experience together. 

Learning should be this fun.

 

 

STEAMBOAT as usual for Tiffy after our swim. Look, the fire was unnecessarily ferocious. It burnt Olive’s hand!

I broke my record again. 24 laps! (^;^)v

Wanna try 26 laps the next time heh heh. Until I hit 30! :)

 

Had to rush down over for cg meeting! It was awesome, an atmosphere of joy! :) In the presence of God, there is fullness of joy!!! :)

An Indonesian bought their traditional food “Gado-gado” over and it was my first time eating that after reading about it so much in our textbook hahaha. So timely! :)

Dad went to Malaysia today out of randomness… And bought me 6 donuts out of randomness too.

0.0

So sweet~ :)

Though it’s not helping me.

I don’t eat donuts actually, but took a bite “out of curiosity” on the chocolate one, as you can see lol…

And “discovered” it was really nice heh heh, and I went on eating 3/4 of it, leaving 1/4 for dad. :)

 

What a foodful day! :)

Done with Bahasa Indonesia test! :)

Oral tomorrow :) then I’m done with this module. :) It’s been the best one thus far. :)

Will be flying over to Indonesia in December and so hopefully I will be able to make sense to them by then haha.

~~~

 

There are some thoughts I shouldn’t be thinking.

They are probably unrealistic, a mirage.

They say fairytales don’t exist. I don’t know…

Even so, nothing’s gonna change. :)

Photos update!

 

Prata breakfast @ Frontier Library on a Sunday morning, accompanied by my faithful notes.

Went to school after service to study for Monday’s Pharmaco test with Tiffy! :)

Went swimming before even studying for an hour. And I broke my record! 18 laps. :)

I discovered more about myself too. For every 1 hour of study, I must rest for 2 hours. Hehehehehe.

Quality over quantity! Lol… Right…

Haha, I wish we had the luxury of time.

Steamboat after swimming!

The plate was HUGE… Both of us had to share one.

She loves eating from POTS… Waha… Looking very hungry here. Lol~

We ate at this place called “GREAT WALL Restaurant” just next to the pool. It’s far from being a ‘restaurant’ though haha.

I think we were the only Singaporeans there. It’s easy to know why.

Olive joined us to study @ the student lounge.

Here Tiffy was trying to put a earstud into Olive’s new tragus piercing. Ouchhh…

As you can see, there wasn’t much studying done actually.

But the thought was there lol…

Went back to Tiffy’s hostel to study.

You can see her starting to manifest some adverse effects of studying.

 

Happily studying! Haha……

Too bad she couldn’t stay overnight with us!

Tiffy and I proceeded to the “Study Room” after sending her off. It’s the best place to study!

Extremely quiet… Cold… Opens 24 hours and with NO internet access.

This was taken at about midnight, playing with my webcam for some self-entertainment lol… Tiffy couldn’t be bothered with me.

And she was like “What the…” Lol…

Pictures are real deceiving… We DID study actually hahaha.

 

The next day…

After THE test… And during lecture.

Cranky and all. Effects of lack of sleep and a fried brain.

Wakeyyy the SUN is up smiling at you!!!

Heh heh. Nice frame :)

And Emma’s always ready to pose lol…

Went down to Marina Square for lunch to celebrate Olive’s belated birthday!

I love staying in a car when it’s pouring outside :)

Another round of STEAMBOAT… @ Hotpot Culture hahaha.

Tiffy loves steamboats! :)

And this is the cutest thing ever seen in an arcade.

Baby Ben N Jerry’s tubs!!! Waiting to be scooped up!!!

 

I can’t resist cute stuff lol… Especially STATIONARIES!!!!!!!!! I promise to study harder if someone buy those for me heh heh heh.

Like cute pens pencils notebooks files etc… Aww… Hahaha.

 

 

Oh and when I finally went home, I discovered that dad had cleaned up my room for me. :) So sweet.

But I also saw that he read a card which I wrote for someone cos it was right in the middle of my table. I put it at the side before I left.

Argh… It was real embarrassing. And the last person I want to read that is my dad. Cos in it had some of my heartfelt thoughts.

Haha nvm… At least there’s nothing mushy in it lol…

 

Till then…

Someone just called me and mentioned about how a doctor carelessly prescribed sleeping pills without even having sufficient details from the patient (who happens to be my friend too).

She had fever and flu.

The doc didn’t even take her body temperature.

 

If that’s the case, they can jolly sell sleeping pills or whatever medicines off the counter. What’s the use of seeing a doctor?

I can simply google/wiki my own signs and symptoms, analyse the drugs available, look at their adverse effects and decide for myself which is the best for me.

There is even more (accurate) information online, provided you read it off reliable sources.

 

 

Why would anyone need a doctor to tell them they are having fever or flu when it is obvious? 

And of course we are smart enough to know that we have to REST and DRINK MORE WATER when we are down.

(Ok very biased and narrow opinion here.)

Consult a SPECIALIST if something troubles you greatly. At least they will look into it with more seriousness.

(Because you have to pay more?)

 

I remember once I went up to my foreign Immunology lecturer after lecture and asked about my permanently blocked nasal canal. I told him how a doctor gave me a “nasal spray” (asthma inhaler look-alike) to decongest it. But it still did not work.

Upon hearing that, he raised his eyebrows and was quite taken aback. I in turn was taken aback by that.

He went on to say “A doctor should not prescribe anything before having any diagnosis.”

Meaning, there should be evidences to prove that you have a particular disease prior to prescribing any drugs to counter that.

I was more taken aback after that. WHAT?!
So what have the local doctors been doing all these while?!…

He advised me to see a Ear-nose-throat specialist @ NUH if I want to.

 

 

This is disturbing.

I can’t stress enough of this… Challenge your healthcare professionals. Doctors, nurses… Whoever. You need to know the rationale behind their every action.

Don’t assume they even know what they are doing. :)

When patients become more educated, the healthcare professionals will be ‘forced’ to improve themselves too. Otherwise, it’s real embarrassing if a patient knows more than you right.

Haha……………

It’s a win-win situation for all.

Long way to go Sg~~~

Broke my record!

I swam 17 laps in my school’s pool alone.

And it was my first time swimming in the middle of a deep pool! So braveeee! :)

Heh heh.

Therapeutic.

80% of the people there were the PRCs.

Cheers.

And they are everywhere at night.

 

Went for dinner after that, and was again surrounded by them. Even the store I ate from were owned by PRCs.

Went to a study area to study for my upcoming testsss… In it you can find many of them mugging hard.

Every little sound you make is amplified. 

 

Things you do when you get bored studying. Haha~

 

I think it’s time to cut my hair…

My dad had just bought me a “hair fall control” shampoo cos I’ve been complaining to him about me dropping lots of hair hahaha~

He opened my door and showed me Lol…

So sweet~ :)

And cute. Lol…

We are so close, yet so far.

Both a little scared.

Neither one prepared.

 

People come in and out of my life all the time, as and when they like.

Somehow, you remained silently in me, with me. 

I’m touched by your subtle acts.

There’s little need for words.

 

Shows belong on stage.

Where everything’s exaggerated, glamourous.

And only for a while.

There’s no need to put up one.

I think I’ve seen enough.

 

 

 

 

This semester has been such a drag.

Schooling stifles my life.

It’s not even challenging.
I believe anyone can memorize if they want to.

Maybe it’s just my real bad attitude towards doing mindless stuff.

 

 

Watched "This Is It" alone last night. It was mind-blowing.
Loved the creativity manifested in the rehearsals.
Loved the dancers, their passion was incredible.


Too bad he didn’t live long enough to realise that concert, otherwise he would have blown everyone away.

From the rehearsals, I saw that he was a meticulous person who knew exactly what was going on at any moment of the performance. Kind words never left him even under pressure or when things didn’t go his way.

He had a huge capacity.

I like it that everyone involved knew clearly their role and performed it with such enthusiasm.

This should be it.

 

 

Whereas in here, I would say a large majority of people are merely doing things out of fear.

Fear of
parents.
failure.
being ostracized.
losing ‘face’.
losing out.

Motivated by fear huh.

Who actually dare to live their dream?

Or rather the not so “mainstream” dreams.

 

That’s why I greatly admire people who fight for their dreams, against all odds, people and circumstances.

They are the courageous ones, the history makers.

What’s the good in being like everyone else? It’s too comfortable, too boring.

Blending in excessively makes one invisible.

Nice Sunday!

Had service as usual, followed by prayer meeting! Felt really happy after that hahaha. For no reason! Guess it’s the joy of the Lord hehehe.

And Sofi gave me a shirt from HongKong! :) So touched~

 

Went SWIMMING again, 16 laps. :)

Many many kids today.

One thing about me, the more I exercise, the more I EAT… So what’s the point?! Lol…

Sigh seriously…

 

Dinner @ Soup Restaurant with Dad

Their signature dish.

And I overate again. :(

 

After that… To make matter worse, we went shopping for food to stock up…

Bought a tub of Haagen Dazs.
There was a promotion…
And we got a little tub free.

This is certainly not helping at all…

 

~~~

 

Anyway, a while ago, I had a little chat with my schoolmates about our FUTURE.

What would we do after graduation???

Being a nursing student doesn’t necessary mean that we WILL become a nurse eventually. Unless we are bonded, we still have freedom of choice to do whatever we want.

However, most of us would agree that it is ‘safer’ to gain a few years of experience in local hospitals before deciding where to venture on next.

I’m rather open to the thought of migrating actually, since a nursing degree can be liken to a visa to many countries. It’d be so much easier to be a PR.

The UK and Australia are good choices for nursing. Their healthcare systems are much more established and nurses are more respected. They are seen more or less on equal par with doctors.

The USA is not bad either.

 

One thing I hate most about local practices is that local doctors seem obligated to prescribe drugs to whoever consult them and for every minor symptoms.

For example,

I once consulted a doctor regarding dizzy spells and gastric refluxes. He told me to rest more as I was under stress.

I was happy that nothing serious was actually happening, but felt cheated for the superficial reasoning.

That was fine… At least I was assured.

However, as I was about to pay for my consultation ($30 for those same sentences my mum would tell me), I was handed some medications.

I inquired about those as I felt there was no need to take any at all, since the doctor merely told me to REST right.

The lady at the counter, took a second look at the very drugs she had just given me, paused to think for a while.

And said, “Just take lah, it’s something to do with the brain.”

(I think her brain needed it more.)

It was downright unprofessional.

Had she said “I have to check with the doctor, can I get back to you soon?”, I’d have forgotten this issue.

Anyway, I replied “I don’t see a need to take it, can I not have it?”

(I might have been labeled as being “non-compliant” immediately. Healthcare professionals hate to deal with non-compliant patients as it spells more trouble.)

“Then what’s the point of you seeing the doctor?”

1) To get my MC.
2) To get assurance.

Well, to avoid wasting time arguing over nothingness, I took them and left.

Abandoned them on my table (not sure if I googled them), and got well after some REST…

Had I taken those, I might intoxicate my liver and experience unnecessary adverse effects of the drugs.

 

I believe these situations are rampant all over the island. It is not uncommon to see army guys having an MC for any little pain here and there, little cough, flu and headache. Are they being encouraged to become whiners and softies?

Are the men so fearful of DYING over these minor symptoms? Or that all the doctors want is just the money?

The fundamental role of a doctor is to cure. But it’s good to THINK afresh at every case.

And maybe they should start prescribing drugs for laziness.

 

Most of the time, your body is stronger and smarter than you think. Relax, stay calm, and let your body defend for you.

Our immune systems have superpower haha.

 

 

That aside, of course I have other tempting reasons to migrate hahaha.

If I ever get married, I’m uncertain if I’d want my children to go through the education system here which kills creativity and curiosity.

That’d be many yearsss from now, but I’m keeping this option open.

Happy Halloween!

There seemed to be an increased hype about it this year?

However, scary stuff are really not my thing. I KNOW they are plastic fake but I will actually avoid going near or even looking at those people with horrific-looking masks or dressing.

They give me the creeps.

This is strange, as I’m perfectly fine dealing with dead bodies, blood and everything inside out.

 

Eww… Bestie wanted to go in, so I had to actually walk past that creature. It was kinda stupid but I walked in as quickly and as far from IT as possible.

Halloween balloons are so much friendlier and harmless. =P And such a delight to just stare at them. :)

 

Pardon me for my highly gu niang entry. Lol…

~~~

Here’s one Halloween joke on Facebook

Status: XXX In search of Halloween stuffs! WHEEEE!!!

Reply: Makeup remover.

LOL… I like plain humour.

~~~

 

 

 

 

Realised I brought a lot of food to school on Friday. Haha.

Had no time for breakfast (soya milk + oily glutinous rice argh.) which dad brought so I had to chuck them in my bag… Later, I discovered I was the FIRST to reach for tutorial. Never happened ever before. :)

Snickers bar was from cg meeting the previous night, which became my highly sinful lunch (which I ate in the library). Of which motivated me to swim 16 laps in the evening.

Emma gave me the "Honeystars” from our exam pack of which I gave it to a friend I bumped into due to the guilt of that Snickers.

 

And today, I chanced upon an article about “junk food”. It has a picture of many chocolate bars sitting neatly in a vending machine. My Snickers was one of them.

The article says “For a 7 year-old, it takes 88 minutes of swim to burn off 203 calories (which is approximately 1 bar).”

It’s about 1.5 hours of swim.

I am not sure if it requires a longer period for a 22 year old though… :(

Maybe shorter.

Lol…

 

Oh, another thing which can creep me out is SKINNINESS.

It makes me cringe to see skinny people dancing, playing sports, or just bending their elbows.

I’m highly sensitive to anything associated with the sight of BONES…

Don’t ask me why. Lol…